Districts with high number of containment zones have most number of Covid cases: Govt data

The figures tabled in a meeting chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday showed that as on November 15, the south-west district, which has the highest number of containment zones in the national capital at 740, also has the highest share of active cases at 6,391.

Two of the revenue districts with the highest and the second highest number of containment zones in the national capital also account for the highest and the second highest number of active Covid-19 cases, prompting experts to call for a revisit of Delhi’s containment policies.

Overall, Delhi has 43,774 active Covid-19 cases and 4,430 containment zones across its 11 revenue districts, as on November 15, records show. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The figures tabled in a meeting chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday showed that as on November 15, the south-west district, which has the highest number of containment zones in the national capital at 740, also has the highest share of active cases at 6,391.

The south-west is followed by the south district with 5,815 active cases and 700 containment zones. The north-west district, which accounted for the highest share of active Covid-19 cases till last month, now stands third with 5,225 active cases, the records show.

Overall, Delhi has 43,774 active Covid-19 cases and 4,430 containment zones across its 11 revenue districts, as on November 15, records show.

Also, 35.35% of Delhi’s total active cases, as on November 15, were reported from the 4,430 containment zones. The remaining were isolated cases reported from outside the containment zones.

In light of these figures, experts argue that Delhi’s containment policy may need to be tweaked to contain the surge in cases.

Dr Lalit Kant, former head of the epidemiology and communicable diseases department in the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said, “Delhi definitely needs to revise its containment policy because the current one is evidently not working at its best in the light of the current surge in Covid-19 cases. The transmission rate is too high now and containment efforts have to be scaled up.

These figures were tabled on Sunday in a meeting convened by Union home minister Amit Shah to discuss the surge in Covid-19 cases in Delhi, said senior government officials. The meeting was attended by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal.

In the meeting, Shah directed the Delhi government to scale up its containment efforts. A senior official of the revenue department said a new strategy is being drafted and it will be finalised within the week.

On September 12, around 19% of the city’s total active cases were from containment zones. The share had increased to 33% on October 18, the records show. The data was tabled at two separate meetings chaired by Baijal, which HT had earlier reported.

The government had attributed the increase to a change in policy which focuses on micro containment zones, the records said. The change in policy is reflected in the numbers. For instance, in late-June, Delhi had around 300,000 people residing in 421 containment zones. On the other hand, around 160,000 people are currently residing in the 4,430 containment zones, as on November 15.

The policy, senior officials said, has allowed the government to spread containment zones across the city and cover more proportion of active Covid-19 cases. Currently, some of the containment zones are limited to a single unit of residence – equivalent to home isolation for cases in which at least three members of a residence are infected, said officials.

The government spokesperson refused comment on the matter.